Data Privacy: Reality or a Myth

Consider, you are chatting with your friends on Whatsapp. The discussion on the group is about a vacation resort and, you guys decide to go to ‘Resort X’. However, at that instant, you decide to check out that place by Googling it. Lo and behold! You type the first alphabet and Google suggests you the resort you’ve just finalized. Coincidence is it? Or is there something more?

In today’s day and age, with the advancement of technology and easy access to data and portable devices, everyone can be found browsing the internet for the smallest of things. It is due to this easy access and convenience people often skip reading the privacy policy or the T&C’s of the website or app they are using.

The recent Facebook data leak is a prime example of how sensitive user data was collected and compromised without users truly realising what had happened. However, one thing that you can’t ignore is the fact that we the users ourselves allow ‘apps’ to access our profile. Although we entrust online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google etc to protect our data, at the same time, it is our responsibility to take measures to protect our data from being misused. Data privacy, after all, is a major concern, to both individuals as well as businesses.

Being in the web hosting industry, data privacy protection becomes a top priority as data is easy to access. Take, for instance, WHOIS, that allows anyone to lookup any desired domain name and look at sensitive data like ownership, IP address, telephone number, etc. If this information falls into the wrong hands it can be misused. Not only can a malicious entity hack your site but also misuse your IP address and find out your location. The horror if imagined is infinite. Nevertheless, every problem has a solution.

In our last post, we covered how to keep your personal data on Facebook and other social media platforms protected. In this post, we’ll look at ways to ensure data privacy of your website.

Install SSL Certificates
Using SSL certificates is the simplest ways to ensure data privacy. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) assures and authenticates your website by encrypting the data within your network. Thus, it creates a link between your computer and the server, keeping the eavesdroppers and hackers at bay. One way of knowing if a website is SSL secured or not is to check the URL. If the URL is HTTPS then the website is secure.Follow these steps to learn, how to install an SSL certificate on your web hosting.

Enable Domain Privacy Protection
Whether you’re a Customer or a Reseller, protecting your domain and the information associated with it is important so that it isn’t misused for malicious purposes. Privacy protection allows you to shield your data from people who can misuse the data. Enabling privacy protection on your domain name hides the information on WHOIS i.e whenever anyone does a WHOIS Lookup they won’t be able to see your sensitive data.Enabling domain privacy is a paid service and you need to contact your hosting provider for it. If you are hosted with ResellerClub, follow these steps to enable domain privacy protection on your domain.

Installing SiteLock
Protecting your website against malicious viruses is a must as this can affect your SEO rankings. SiteLock is a Cloud-based website security tool that offers protection against malware and viruses by scanning your network and applications. Also, it has an inbuilt firewall and filters that help in blocking bad traffic and spam emails.

Apart from these steps, take care to install firewalls and backup tools like Codeguard to keep your website secure.

The above measures are neutral can be taken by anyone irrespective of the type of hosting you have. However, if you have chosen WordPress Hosting there is another additional thing you should take care of, and that is updating your WordPress regularly as and when updates are released. As a web pro, you should do this as the updates usually fix the bugs and security flaws.

At the endof the day, ensuring data privacy is a two-way street where you look to your service provider to take care of the data but at the same time, it is your responsibility to make sure that you do your bit to ensure that your data isn’t misused.

About H. Fatima

In the days of yore, H. Fatima used to be an Engineer by profession and Writer by passion until she started pursuing full time writing. Her blog is a collection of short vignettes, stories and poems. She mostly writes what she deeply perceives and analyzes. It is her way of unwinding. Her interests include writing, reading (an avid reader), listening to various genres of music, volunteering and watching movies.

In the days of yore, H. Fatima used to be an Engineer by profession and Writer by passion until she started pursuing full time writing. Her blog is a collection of short vignettes, stories and poems. She mostly writes what she deeply perceives and analyzes. It is her way of unwinding. Her interests include writing, reading (an avid reader), listening to various genres of music, volunteering and watching movies.

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About Author

H. Fatima

In the days of yore, H. Fatima used to be an Engineer by profession and Writer by passion until she started pursuing full time writing. Her blog is a collection of short vignettes, stories and poems. She mostly writes what she deeply perceives and analyzes. It is her way of unwinding. Her interests include writing, reading (an avid reader), listening to various genres of music, volunteering and watching movies.